Viewer’s Guide for Fires in the Mirror
See the videos found on YouTube of a 6-part made for television performance based on the play Fires in the Mirror. Discuss the approach that Smith portrays and how she structures her work building toward the final scene in the play. Discuss how effectively she creates this work for television and how different it might be between a stage version and a television version that you watch.
Pay particular attention to how Smith represents each of the characters through her voice, physical movements, and costumes. The presentation of the television version is different from that found in the script. For one thing the sequence of the characters is reordered from that found in the stage script. And the insertion of recorded segments from local and national television news coverage of the violence is not evident in the play script. Do you think that helps or hinders the dramatic flow of the events? Note in the introduction to the script Smith indicates that she has a broader intention, particularly to explore and present aspects of the “American character”. In what ways does she accomplish her aim thru performance?
As with any movie or T.V. adaption of a play, there are many different challenges that come with production. The play would most likely be harder to perform because of costume changes, set changes, voice preparations, and other characteristics because the transitions need to be done swiftly and with little complication in order to be portrayed correctly, there is no stopping during the performance. With the television adaption, however, the recording could be stopped in order to change costumes and prepare. It was most likely easier to change the background as well because she could have potentially used a green screen or just changed locations all together. I, personally, think that the television version of the play was more dramatic and informational than this play performance could have been. Because Smith was able to add real life images and news scenes, it made the act more real for the audience. The way that she set the order of events up in the play is slightly confusing and hard to imagine, but the television version is very detailed and acted out in a way easier to understand. The order that Smith chose for the television performance makes it more dramatic in that it builds and levels out with the different personalities of the characters, each with a different style and attitude up until the very end which is very strong and heart-wrenching.
See the videos found on YouTube of a 6-part made for television performance based on the play Fires in the Mirror. Discuss the approach that Smith portrays and how she structures her work building toward the final scene in the play. Discuss how effectively she creates this work for television and how different it might be between a stage version and a television version that you watch.
Pay particular attention to how Smith represents each of the characters through her voice, physical movements, and costumes. The presentation of the television version is different from that found in the script. For one thing the sequence of the characters is reordered from that found in the stage script. And the insertion of recorded segments from local and national television news coverage of the violence is not evident in the play script. Do you think that helps or hinders the dramatic flow of the events? Note in the introduction to the script Smith indicates that she has a broader intention, particularly to explore and present aspects of the “American character”. In what ways does she accomplish her aim thru performance?
As with any movie or T.V. adaption of a play, there are many different challenges that come with production. The play would most likely be harder to perform because of costume changes, set changes, voice preparations, and other characteristics because the transitions need to be done swiftly and with little complication in order to be portrayed correctly, there is no stopping during the performance. With the television adaption, however, the recording could be stopped in order to change costumes and prepare. It was most likely easier to change the background as well because she could have potentially used a green screen or just changed locations all together. I, personally, think that the television version of the play was more dramatic and informational than this play performance could have been. Because Smith was able to add real life images and news scenes, it made the act more real for the audience. The way that she set the order of events up in the play is slightly confusing and hard to imagine, but the television version is very detailed and acted out in a way easier to understand. The order that Smith chose for the television performance makes it more dramatic in that it builds and levels out with the different personalities of the characters, each with a different style and attitude up until the very end which is very strong and heart-wrenching.